This Is What He Believes
by Hieiko
Summary: War, a.k.a. Rogue Assassin. Vengeance is a long and winding road. Rogue is determined to reach the end. Massive spoilers.


Title: **This Is What He Believes**  
Author: Hieiko  
Based on: War (a.k.a. Rogue Assassin)  
Characters: Rogue, Tom Lone, John Crawford and others  
Disclaimer: I don't own the movie War, or any of the characters.  
Warnings: Violence and language not for children. Massive spoilers for the movie.  
Summary: Vengeance is a long and winding road. Rogue is determined to reach the end.

The house serves as a funeral pyre.

He wants to watch until it is reduced to ashes, but someone will probably notice the flames before then. He has to leave.

In the car, he finds almost everything he needs to start his new life. _His new mission._

x

Tom Lone is dead. Rogue killed him and his family, and all that remains of them was burned down with their house.

This is what everyone believes.

This is what he believes, too.

x

He thinks there might be something wrong with using the name Rogue. But he also thinks that, in some ways, it's only fair.

Rogue destroyed his life, so he's taking what he can get in exchange.

x

It's a mistake to let the plastic surgeon live.

But maybe there's still a little of Tom Lone left in him, because he doesn't pull the trigger. The surgeon is too much of a risk, though, so his parting threat is one that'll send the man on the first flight out of the country.

He's sure this decision is going to bite him in the ass. He just hopes it won't be too soon.

x

Sometimes, he's afraid to look in the mirror. Not because it's a stranger's face he sees there every morning, but because that face is becoming more and more familiar.

One day, he knows, he'll come to recognize that face as his own.

x

Every FBI agent knows how to fight. Training in hand-to-hand combat is hardly optional in their line of work, and when it comes to that, he's better than most.

But he's not an FBI agent (anymore), he's (supposed to be) an infamous assassin. He has more to learn in order to live up to the name he's using.

China might be a good place to start.

x

The Yakuza's presence in Japan is not as blatant as he imagined. He arrives as an ordinary citizen, a tourist with a lot of time on his hands.

Nobody cares when he enrolls in a kendo program, or when he keeps renewing his visa to study more advanced levels. A few take notice of his rapid progress rate, but it doesn't matter because soon enough it's time for him to leave.

He's not trying to be the best swordsman; he just needs to know enough to use the weapon. After all, when push comes to shove, he'll use a gun.

x

He has always been a good shot. But he doesn't count himself one of the best, not after he'd shot Rogue in the face and the assassin still survived to--

He refuses to think about it.

Target practice helps. A hundred times, a thousand times. It becomes a habit, like brushing his teeth.

x

Only three years, and already John Crawford has managed to throw his own life away. A divorce, and no time for his kid: all because he was too busy chasing ghosts. John was (is) Tom Lone's (his) best friend, but right now he'd like to break a few of the man's bones. Maybe it would get him to realize what's more important.

But he knows John, and the man is nothing if not stubborn. It's a quality that can be exploited, when the time comes to put his plan into motion.

x

The Triad boss is less paranoid than he expected. Chang doesn't trust him, of course, but there's no suspicion that he isn't who he claims to be.

And the only trial he needs to pass is to take out a group of Yakuza-- something he's all too willing to do.

x

He's standing in the middle of an empty warehouse, and a furious John Crawford is screaming in his face: "Tell me you remember!"

He says nothing; he doesn't even flinch at the reminder of his family. His former partner's anger somewhat pleases him, though, and he can't avoid smirking a little.

John is still his ally in this war, even if he doesn't know it.

x

"No harm will come to them," he promises the Triad boss, and means it.

So when the Yakuza boss Shiro Yanagawa, through his daughter, orders the deaths of Chang's wife and child, Rogue disobeys him for the first time.

Though Chang is not spared, his family isn't involved. Just as Diane and Amy never should have been.

x

"I ordered many hits," says Shiro Yanagawa.

"This one was different!" Rogue snarls in reply. He raises his sword, and attacks.

They exchange words in between clashes of steel on steel. The Yakuza leader is a better swordsman than he is, but he won't lose. He has Rogue's skills... and Tom Lone's rage.

x

Betrayal is a way of the world. But he doesn't want to believe his best friend betrayed him... until John himself admits it.

No excuse, nothing-- not even the act of saving his life-- can change the fact that John Crawford gave the information that got his family killed.

"Tom is dead. My name is Rogue." He punctuates the last sentence with a bullet.

x

He's not surprised when he encounters Shiro's daughter again, weeks later.

"You killed my father," she hisses.

He doesn't avoid the blade she hurls at him, and the weapon pierces the right side of his chest.

"You will die here," she says, throwing another blade.

By then, a gun is already in his hand. He fires, aiming for her head. She drops to the ground a second before he does.

_It's over,_ he thinks, and smiles.


End file.
